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Since the Hindenberg burnt to crisp on the eve of the second world war, the airship has been considered dangerous. The hydrogen envelope is considered madness by most who have seen the image of the great Zeppelin in flames. But it was not the hydrogen that caused the tradgedy - more on that here. It is worth remembering that in the Hindenberg disaster 35 out of 97 people on board lost their lives - compare that to airplane casualties in major accidents, and it's not too bad. Either way, I am not suggesting we return to using hydrogen airships neccessarily, but that in reviving airship technologies nothing should be discounted. After all, Helium reserves are depleting at a fast rate, and Helium is becoming more and more expensive.
What I find really exciting about the possibilities for new airships are the concept designs:
For example the Strato Cruiser, the Manned Cloud concepts, and the SkyCat project. There is an opportunity here to look at the challenge of international and long distance travel, and to start again from scratch using new technologies. The Air travel industry model is broken. It is focussed on speed of travel, not quality of travel. With modern communication and fuel technologies, new lightweight materials, and all the other innovations of the last 70 years, it seems inconceivable to me that a better alternative to the airplane could not be developed. In 70 years of aircraft development we have made incredible progress. Imagine if the second world war had not halted the development of airships , where we could be now?
